[Petrarch of the VBB]

I am now getting into programming, and after experimenting with QBasic, I wan't to make proper stuff, so where can I get Vis Basic? Is it free? Does it come with windows? Can it be downloaded? Etc.

[Martinus]

I did a little VB programming and depending on what you want to achieve you are either going to love it or absolutley revile it (as I did ).

It is pretty damn expensive and is bought as a stand alone product. What were you considering programming? I might get a better idea of wheter or not it will do the job.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Well I dont know what I want to program, i just want to learn one of the languages, and VisBasic seemed as good as any.

[vadar_1]

Visual Basic... is...... well: THE TOOL OF THE DEVIL!!!!

Although it is the next step after quick basic, you may want to consider C however (or pascal, i learned pascal first.... old language now)

[Martinus]

Nah I'm going with Kazan on this. Learn C or C++. It's very powerful, there are loads of free compliers, it can be compiled for a lot of platforms other than PC's (Gameboy Advance for instance) and best of all you will be able to edit the FS2 code.

There are a lot of tutorials for it too

[Top Gun]

Learn Perl; the Language of the Gods. It's free too.

[vadar_1]

php is just the better version of perl, and its very close to C

[Stealth]

ummm.... a friend of mine knows VB, i'll phone him tonight and ask him and post here...i'm not familiar with visual basic at all though...

[Kazan]

visual basic is not a programming language, it's a joke

[Stealth]

Originally posted by vadar_1
Visual Basic... is...... well: THE TOOL OF THE DEVIL!!!!

did you make that "1337" program of yours in VB or C++?

[Kazan]

stealth your signature hurts my eyes

[Stealth]

hey KaZan,

you mean the colors?  i think they look cool though... perhaps it is a bit long though... you think it's a bit long?

[an0n]

Use pastels. Ie, instead of #FF0000, use #FF7777

[Stealth]

i'll just shorten it about 11 lines

is this too bright?  cause if i have to then i'll change the colors...
i mean, i know it's the same colors, but it's a lot less of them, so does it help

[JC Denton]

While we're on the subject of programming languages...

What books do you reccommend for someone wanting to learn C/C++?  Keep in mind this is for someone with only minimal to zero experience with "real" programming.

And what about DirectX?  (say nothing, Kazan, absolutely nothing)  I'm wanting to try to upgrade FS2 to the DirectX 8.1 interface, but I'm a bit clueless.  I actually have a neat idea to replace the particle trails with pointsprites, but I need to figure out how to make them behave the way I want to.

Look on MSDN and there should be a demo of the pointsprite effect.  If not I can zip it up and let you all see it.

I've tried VB, and it's geared perfectly for processing data for shipping, ordering, invoicing, business stuff, but I agree that if you really want to have fun take a stab at C++.

btw, does anyone have anything on this new C# Micro$oft has in their Visual Studio .NET?  All I know is it's pronounced c sharp.

[Kazan]

don't touch C# or .NET

DX is ok since we're on windows, i'd rather you put effort into an OpenGL renderer - especially when OpenGL 1.4 drivers are available

[JC Denton]

There are plenty enough other people here that are better experienced with OpenGL than I'll ever be, and besides, someone's got to understand how that demon DirectX works anyways, right?

So, for a complete newbie, whadda ya recommend for learning C++?  Besides a training course at a college or somthing?

[Kazan]

"C++ for You++" by Deitel and Dietel

[penguin]

Penguin's Official Guide to Every Language Worth Knowing and a few that aren't

Like the King James Bible, this is not open to interpretation, as angels told me all this.

• C You must learn this.  It is not an option.  Don't ask why.  Delivered to us sinners by the Prophets Kernigan and Ritchie.  *genuflects*
  
  
• C++ See above.  They fixed some of the things that C got wrong.  They also added the kitchen sink.  Don't get carried away with inheritance. Trying to comprehend the STL will rob you of sleep; using it will rob your processor of cycles.
  
  
• Visual Basic Don't waste your time.  It will make your brain impure.  It also causes cavities, hair loss, and sterility.  You can make pretty windows with it fairly easily, if you're into that sort of thing.
  
  
• Java C++ for Dummies.  Useful for some things (mostly webbish stuff), but don't get carried away and keep it in its place: C++ has pointers for a reason.
  
  
• C# Evil.  Bad.  Another C++ for Dummies, with brimstone included.  If you even use this once, even for "Hello, world," you will be marked with The Sign forever.
  
  
• Perl Perl is the glue that holds the internet together.  It is the Swiss Army knife.  All the world's programming problems can be solved with Perl, frequently in under five lines.  Not for the squeamish nor for the purists.  Probably not the language of choice for gaming engines, though.
  
  
• PHP Perl for people who only care about building kewl websites
  
  
• Assembly Useful to know, but it's a rare individual who can write better asm code than a modern compiler.  Usually you'll shoot your own foot off, up to the hip.  I would not recommend novice programmers attempting to write their own device drivers.  Oh yeah, every processor has its own instruction set, so they're all different.
  

The End.

[Kamikaze]

GO LISP!!!!!! (yea, lisp is a cool programming language!)

LISP: a symbolicly oriented language, used for AIs. Very easy at first.